Style-wonkette notes about fashion and personal style from Fort Smith, Arkansas, deep in rural America. For mature women, beldames, women of a certain age, matriarchs and fully grown-up females. Age is not nearly as important as your eye for style.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Wow. When I noted here on my blog that
"I belong to two Druid orders" in a list of personal trivia
items, I had no idea that there would be so much response and
curiosity from people who read the post. Because I've done a few of
these little awards that require the publication of these lists, I
was running out of even marginally interesting factoids. This
apparently was an interesting one. Who knew? Since I am not sure
whether folks want to know about Druidism generally or my interest in
the discipline specifically, I'll address both as succinctly as I
can.

There's a lot to say about contemporary
Druidism. There excellent books on the subject and dumb ones, and a
lot of places to find out about it, but I think just an attempt at
the basics will satisfy curiosity here.

To begin with, I want to point out that
Rowan Williams, a recent and former Archbishop of Canterbury, is a member of
a Welsh Druid order, his designation part of the Gorsedd of Bards.
As is Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family because
of their special connection to Wales. Their induction was into a
cultural and social order, promoting the preservation and development
of the Welsh language and cultural traditions.

Princess Elizabeth, 1946 Glamorgan, Wales

Although this order dates from the
Celtic Revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries, it's survived as one
of the oldest of the many contemporary groups that seek to make a
modern connection with the ancient Iron Age social and spiritual
structures that defined Druidism. There has been lots of interest
from the children of the Celtic diaspora. In the US, one of the
first organized attempts began with students at Carleton College who,
in 1963, established the RDNA (The Reformed Druids of North America)
as a Monty Python-esque political response to a requirement that
students attend regular religious services. The idea evolved into
something more serious minded, and the RDNA is still around with some
400 groves (affiliated groups) and as many as 4000 self-identified
Druids. The Wikipedia entry on Druidism says that " According
to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), there are
approximately 30,000 Druids in the United States. There are
approximately 50,000 Druids worldwide." These figures come from
their2001 survey.

And before I go much further, I also
need to point out that the image of a Gandalf-class wizard with blue
fire springing from his fingertips has nothing at all to do with the
practice of contemporary Druidism. This figure now belongs in
cos-play and gaming and epic sci-fantasy fiction, although he has his
origins in Celtic folklore and mythology.

In a big, fat, seriously oversimplified
nutshell, the ancient Druids were the functionaries of the educated
classes of the cultures that spoke the Celtic languages. Those
languages evolved in parts of the ancient world that are now
continental Europe and the British isles. Where there were Celts,
there were Druids. They were the teachers, judges, lawyers, priests,
politicians, poets, musicians, storytellers, historians and other
intelligentsia of their tribes. We know precious little first-hand
information about them because, while many were literate and could
read and write in Greek and Latin, they did not leave written records
of their own. The corpus of written history comes primarily from
the Roman records of their occupation of Britain and the parts of
conquered Europe inhabited by the Celtic tribes. Essentially, they
are reports about the vanquished by the victors, and have to be
approached with care. We have other information from remnants of
oral tradition and folk tales, and most interestingly to me, the
early medieval records of very ancient Irish Brehon law. We have
educated assumptions based on archeology, anthropology and
linguistics. However, there is no direct, unbroken connection
between Iron Age Celts and modern Druidism. No matter how much
people would like there to be one, there just isn't. It is a part of
a repeating revival of interest in all things Celtic, and a
deliberate effort has been made to reconstruct the essence of the
real thing.

Today, modern Druidism is as varied as
the groups and individuals who claim it as a philosophical or
spiritual pursuit, or both. It can be practiced in highly stratified
orders, or small casually organized groups or it can be an individual
pursuit. It is one of the rare spiritual disciplines that has
connections with both Christianity and the neo-pagan belief systems
of the Western World, and has acknowleged roots in early
Indo-European religions.

***

To further oversimplify using the
time-honored nutshell method; here are some of the primary ideas
understood and accepted by most Druids and Druid organizations:

A highly valued relationship
with the natural world, and by extension all our primary human
relationships, an understanding of the connectedness of everything.
Most Druids consider the relationship to the Land as primary sacred
concept, and are consequently concerned in some way with
environmental issues. From this understanding of the natural world
flows the more poetic approach to life and death, ancient beliefs in
reincarnation, rebirth and renewal, and the idea of otherworlds.

Druids
are universally tree lovers.

Seasonal festivals

There are four major celebrations
inspired by ancient agricultural festivals, the seasons of nature and
survival ... this is one area that is more or less traceable to
actual practices. There are four more dictated by solar and lunar
events that are sometimes included in modern tradition, but not
viewed as historically likely. Not all are celebrated universally.

Values, Virtues and Ethics

Druidism places high value on the
virtues of truth, wisdom, honor, courage, personal responsibility,
integrity, self-knowledge, hospitality, friendship, generosity, and
creativity. Especially creativity, which is honored within the
concept of "Awen," the divine fire of inspiration.

Ancestors
are venerated. That extends to intellectual or
artistic lineages and inspirators. Family and community are valued,
but those ideas are not limited to only the most traditional
versions. There are lots of ways to experience family through
Druidism.

Theology (a discussion that is
just too big to be tackled here ...)

But, on the subject of deity, I can say
that Druidism acknowledges monotheism, polytheism, all the isms. Or
none of them, and there are lots of Druidy types who are not
religious at all and regard their practice as pure philosophy.

(A personal note on one of the
reasons I appreciate Druid theology; Druidism is non-dogmatic.
Philip Carr-Gomm, a well respected author closely associated with The
Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) was right when he wrote;
“most Druids are keen to avoid the problems caused by dictating a
morality to others.” (What Do Druids Believe?
p. 59.) Consequently, there is no proselytizing
by modern Druids. I particularly like that. )

Most believe in gravity and the
scientific method.

There is an acknowledged value attached
to any honest pursuit of knowledge, the attainment of education,
scholarship and academic excellence. Critical thinking is valued as
well as creativity.

****

This last virtue brings me to my
personal response to Druidism. It is important to me that my
spiritual life is able to exist comfortably with my intellectual
life. Contemporary Druidism allows that. Druidism is not a received
and revealed religion, and there is no sacred text to define it's
parameters. But it is an inspired response to some of the cultural
values that were likely part of the lives of my own ancestors and now
resonate with my own life in the modern world. The Druids of the Iron
Age Celtic tribes were the stewards of all that we now define as
civilization. It was their job to seek order, justice and peace and
to promote reason, beauty and spirituality within a warrior culture.
The intellectual legacy of ancient Druidism belongs not only to men
but to women as well, who we know participated in these important
civil functions and public life more fully than elsewhere in the
classical world. I'm drawn to Druidism's beauty, and I practice the
elements of it that give me the most satisfaction.

Modern Druidism is a system of many
uses for me, inspired by ideals that can be thoughtfully and happily
applied to my personal life and my response to the world around me.
The idea isn't to try to act as an ancient druid in a modern time, or
impose the culture of ancients on our own era. It is to approach the
above values and virtues with an evolved understanding and then apply
them to the issues that we face in a modern world.

I belong to the moderately-sized but
international Order of the White Oak (Ord na Darach Gile) and to the
very small Triskele Oaks Grove, a small independent group. Beyond
that, I'm pretty much a garden variety contemporary Druidess. Any
more than that, I only feel comfortable keeping to myself or sharing
with those who love me and therefore have to put up with me.

If you have other questions that you'd
like me to address, you can reach me through my email address: kelts
at centurytel dot net.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Wow! It's apparently Award Season,
'cause I have another this week. (And here I am without my red carpet
dress. Drat. So typical. ) I've been nominated for the Shine On
Award by not one, but TWO of my bloggy peers. First by the
ever-lovely Seeker from her thoughtful blog, Searching the Inner Me .
Then by the fabulous Maricel at her always intriguing blog, My Closet Catalogue . I'm honored that these two women thought enough of my little blog to
send this kind of shout-out.

Here are the rules:

Display the award logo on your
blog.

Link back to the person who
nominated you.

State seven things about yourself.

Nominate 15 other bloggers for
this award and link to them.

Notify those bloggers of the
nomination and the award requirements.

Instead of nominating specific bloggers
for this award, I'm going to modify the rules a bit and declare that
if you are reading this, and that you are a blogger and wish to play,
YOU should consider yourself nominated. Congratulations! And
because I'm as nosy as the next woman, I'd love it if you post your
seven bits of personal trivia below in the comments section. Or you
can do the full-on nomination process at your own blog and say it
came from me!

Seven Facts About Me

1. Two foods I cannot turn down are
tacos and chocolate cake.

2. I lived in Alaska for a decade.

3. I really have to read for a while
before turning in for the night.

4. I belong to two Druid orders.

5. I don't leave the house without my
Kindle Fire.

6. My BFA came with the distinction
magna cum laude. Ahem.

7. I retained one of my baby teeth
until my 50s (in my mouth along with my grown-up teeth, not in a
keepsake box.)

I had to have Dan help me come up with
these ... I'm just about out of even vaguely interesting tid-bits of
information about myself.

What I Wore to the Big City on Sunday

The high on Saturday was just a little
under 70°F
and I was feeling all spring-ish. By Sunday, it had dropped to a
very gray, windy and chilly 57°F
so I regretfully rethought my choice of my little Peter Pilotto
dress and cute little strappy shoes. Some plowing through the closet
resulted in the unearthing one of my old-favorite and recently
neglected items; my Isaac Mizrahi (yes, for Target) trench coat with
a burnout eyelet embroidery hem.

It's
great for seasonal transitions as it's lightweight. And I had a
compliment on it from a dear little old lady (well, older than me,
anyway) who thought it was the prettiest raincoat she'd seen. It's
just the right time to bring it out and about for this changeable end
of winter, and it always cheers me up a little to wear it.

Monday, February 17, 2014

On Valentine's Day, Dan and I spend our
day at our restaurant trying to make our guests' visit on this
compulsorily romantic day as special as they wanted it to be. We
really needed a busy weekend, and we got it. We were almost
overwhelmed, but we made it through and we're both still beat. By
Sunday night, we were ready to limp into the Big City and try to
celebrate a little ourselves. Our favorite teppanyaki style
restaurant is pretty casual and that allowed me to dress just like I
wanted to: in pajamas. Grilled lobster served to me while I sit
comfy and cozy in my PJs ... now that's a decadent fantasy.

To my credit, my pink, fuzzy, Hello
Kitty jams were ruled out fairly quickly, although I considered
trying to elevate them somehow. (Maybe with a nude heel and
statement necklace? No, I was only tired and lazy, not completely devoid of decorum.) I settled for loose, silky black pants, a long
georgette tunic shirt and a soft tank. Almost pajamas, and I chose
my ultra-comfy-yet-saucy Michael Kors platform sandals. Not my most
flattering look, but I love how the pieces rippled and flowed as I
sauntered into the restaurant on Dan's arm. Made it easy to drape
myself over a barstool while waiting to be seated. Yup. Dinner in
my pajamas ... almost.

Not my most flattering outfit, but it
sure suited my low-energy and lightly louche attitude. We had a
great time.

The wonderful and lovely Alice at
Happiness at Midlife (one of my petite role models and a print-mixing expert extraordinaire) has sweetly nominated me for the Golden Blog Award. It's a first for
me with this particular award, and very nice thing to see in my
inbox! Thank you so much, Alice. You are a daily inspiration and very cool girl.

Here's how it works:

1.
Post a picture of the award, or create your own

2.
Link to the person who nominated you

3.
Give 10 random facts about yourself

4.
Nominate other bloggers

In turn I'll nominate a little bunch of lovely bloggers that I wish to know better or just hear more from...

Monday, February 10, 2014

We love our personal rituals, don't we?
Besides the big occasions that mark our lives - holidays, birthdays,
spiritual or religious events, anniversaries - we each have our
private, singular rites that we choose to do to help us get through
our days with our skin intact, make life a tad more interesting and
meaningful, or just improve the quality of our mundane world. Little
rituals.

And those of you who are kind enough to
frequent these pages know that one of mine is to get up very early on
the designated Sunday and drive many miles to show up for the first
hours of availability of Target collaborations with designers like
Issack Mizrahi, Prabal Garung or Phillip Lim. These events happen
only a couple of times a year and feature the ideas of designers
whose work I will never get to wear in any other way. My husband
doesn't have to participate in this rite but he does, 'cause he's
just that kind of guy. I'm the only woman who has turned up recently
for these events at our local Target ... there's no fanfare, no
excitement, no long lines of eager customers ... just me and Dan, my
sleepy chauffeur.

Very early morning me, waiting for Target to open. As there was no line, I opted to

play on the architectural elements of the store front. As one does.

And looking more comfortable than I was in the the cold.

We weren't going to do it this time,
but we did. The weather was against the local debut ... it was very
cold and gray and I understand why sensible women stayed home. We
decided to show up just so someone in the area would be there to offer a little interest and at least fly the flag.

Ritual was satisfied, but that was
about it, because I was underwhelmed by the collection when I
actually got to touch it and try things on. This collection has
lots of beautiful and interesting qualities and the pieces are going
to be fabulous on some women, somewhere, but I am clearly not the
woman that these designers had in mind as the customer.

Peter Pilotto, the brand (which is not
just one guy, but both Mr. Pilotto and his design cohort Christopher
De Vos as a team,) is famous for their bright prints. The
collaboration didn't disappoint on that front. The prints were vivid
and of-the-moment, and look fabulous on the very tall models wearing
them in the ads. The pre-mixed prints were fun to look at, but the
love wasn't coming back to me when I tried them on. The very
interesting patterns were overwhelming on the racks, and just as
overwhelming on my very short frame. Many of the colors were more
acidic than is flattering on me. Many of the pieces had raglan
sleeves, and I don't wear those well. Others had cap sleeves, and
ditto on those as unflattering for me. There was quite a lot of
neoprene, which can result in a sculptural coolness, but I didn't
really like how it was applied to this collection. Lookbooks are neat
for previewing collections, but you don't get the tactile feedback.

Three racks total for our small Target ...

this center rack and two smaller ones on either side

Meh.

I counted only 17 items out of the
70-something items in the entire collection, and only one of the
items I thought I might like was available. I did like a red, blue
and black summer dress, and I did try it and buy it, and you'll see
it here eventually. It will require alterations, as so many items
do, but I know I'll like it when I'm finished.

This completed ritual wasn't an
unqualified success for me, but it was a refresher-lesson on three
pretty important concepts.

The first is this: not all style ideas
are suited to all women, but the part for me to remember is that it
wasn't my fault the line didn't work perfectly for me. Most of the
silhouettes weren't flattering for me, and the garment needs to work
for the wearer and not the other way around. This I learned from Tim
Gunn.

The second is that when I alter a
garment to suit my figure or taste, I get to become a part of the
creative process. The designer makes a template for me to finish and
adapt and make my own. That applies to fit alterations, but also to
styling choices that we all make when we decide how WE choose to wear
an item.

And finally, when I alter an item to
fit my specific frame, it ceases to be any size other than mine.
Rather than a size 6, or an 8 or a 10 or a size 12, it becomes "size
Jan." The item becomes really my own. And when you look at
it that way, how cool that?

Monday, February 3, 2014

This is WIWHW for my birthday dinner.
What I Would Have Worn, if it hadn't snowed and sleeted and kept us
from going into The Big City for dinner as planned. Oh, well. Soon.
Very soon.

The only thing you haven't seen here is
my new leather skirt. Okay, not leather. Faux, but pretty good
faux. It's very soft and I like the drape and texture. And it has
pockets! I'm currently obsessing about midi skirts and and I found a
very good buy on this one. It just wasn't intended to be a midi.

I was afraid that this was going to be
a style that would hard to wear with my short waist and frame. And on
my problematic shape, not all skirts are created equal. I knew
proportional length would be tricky, and most midis look best with a
tucked shirt ... always challenging for me.

This skirt was intended to be an
at-the-knee length for the average height woman, but I liked the way
the pleats are flat and fall from a slightly wider waist band. So I
just bought it a size larger and that allows it to ride a little
lower, just beneath my natural waist. Lower on the waist means a
longer look ... and voilà! It
is now a below-the-knee midi look that works for me. But best of all, the lower waist means
that when I tuck in a shirt, I get just an extra inch or so of torso!
Problem solved.

Another validation that size is only a
number. Buy the size that works, 'cause there are lots of ways to work a size!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Joining the Pink Statement Seeker at her linky party Tres Chic Style Bits ... stop by or, better yet, come out to play!

And at the Lovely Sacramento's

Share in Stylewhere I'm almost Gothic, but not quite!(and late breaking)

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Wonderful Team Member Readership Award

"Women always try to tame themselves as they get older, but the ones who look best are often a bit wilder. Thinking about age all the time is the biggest prison women can make for themselves." - Miuccia Prada